Lupe Fiasco’s Suicidal Thoughts While Making ‘Lasers’

Lupe Fiasco revealed in his interview with Details magazine that he fell into a state of deep depression, which led to suicidal thoughts, during the creation of his forthcoming album, Lasers. His creativity wasn’t meeting the standards of Atlantic Records, who sought to transform this project into commercial material, in order for Fiasco to be more appealing and garner a wider audience. Here’s an excerpt from the interview:

…When Fiasco submitted his first Lasers tracks two and a half years ago, his label, Atlantic, rejected them as not commercial enough, according to Darrale Jones, his A&R rep. “I don’t know how to do what Kanye does,” Fiasco says matter-of-factly. “I don’t have that Midas touch.” A creative clash ensued: Atlantic froze his production budget. Fiasco asked to be released from his contract. The label refused. By his own account, Fiasco descended into a deep funk. On “Beautiful Lasers,” one of the album’s standout songs, he raps over a reverberating gothic beat: “If you feel like you don’t want to be alive, you feel just like I am.” Did he really contemplate suicide? “To keep from killing somebody else,” he says. “The creation of Lasers was a very painful, dark, fu*cked-up process.”

Never let your vision be overpowered by someone else’s. When it seems like it’s becoming unbearable and out of your control, take a step back rather than taking a step into that dark side. We are all Lasers, not losers. Rising above conflict and mediocrity always allows us to outshine the doubters.